Elfbane
by Sinnarn Nathron
Summary: Three Rings for the Elven Kings and a desire to get them and their Crafter back. Will the Halls of Mandos themselves be breached? Warning: Character death.
1. Bane of the Night

We are the Story Weavers. So sit and hark as we weave to you our first tale. Please keep in mind, all our sane readers, that we are obsessed with Elrond. We are the Lion and the Lamb: with our opposite personalities we weave all the necessary aspects of the story… so enjoy, my friends.

Disclaimer: We do not own anything (except a few random characters we made up). Lord Tolkien owns all characters, places, and languages used in this story. We don't even own Elrond, though we just might be working on that.

_Three rings for the Elven Kings under the Sky,_

_Seven for the Dwarf Lords in their Halls of Stone,_

_Nine for Mortal men doomed to die,_

_One for the Dark Lord on his Dark throne_

**Elfbane**

Chapter One: Bane of Night

The pale moon shone down upon scattered rocks and long-forgotten runes. If you looked just

close enough you could see figures, though they might seem no more then lost statues alone in

the night. The wind picked up slowly, blowing their dark cloaks around their solemn forms.

Finally one of the forms moved an Elf with dark hair and dark eyes gazed up to the heaven's field of stars, then to his companions. The name of this elf was Rhuicunn and he was the leader, so to speak, of this small group.

"Three rings for the Elven Kings under the sky... but they are not truly the Elven Kings' possessions..."

Another elf stepped up: this one was younger, and his name was Ihathron. "That wrong shall be righted soon," he said, his voice soft but aggressive.

Rhuicunn turned to Ihathron. "Then are you ready?" he asked the younger elf. A murmur of excitement ran through the group.

"Well, not really," Ihathron answered. "But I don't think we can wait much longer."

Rhuicunn nodded and looked to the North. "Go then and do what you must."

The sun shone down brightly bathing Rivendell in a golden glow. Arien slowly made her way up into the sky, and the Elven valley slowly woke up. Arwen opened her eyes slow realization of the day washing over her. She jumped quickly out of bed filled with excitement and rushed out of her room.

"ADA, ADA!" she cried rushing in to Elrond's room waking up the sleeping Elven Lord. " ADA ADA ADA GUESS WHAT TODAY IS!"

Elrond raised an eyebrow. "The day my daughter no longer saw fit to let me sleep?"

Arwen jumped on to the bed further disturbing her father. "NO SILLY! IT IS MY BEGETTING DAY!" Elrond rolled over in bed, hoping she would go away. "Alright, alright," he said, slowly standing up, "leave so I may dress."

Arwen nodded – "Alright, ada!" – and she bounded out of the room to seek her brothers. Elrond smiled and lay back down in his bed, it would be at least an hour for her to realize his trick.

Arwen made her way first to Elrohir's chambers. "RO RO RO RO!"

Now Elrohir took after his Ada and was a smart elf. Arwen ran into his room to find it apparently empty. She scanned the room once more and sighed, going now to find her eldest brother.

As soon as the door closed, Elrohir rolled out from under his bed, grinning; Arwen was too loud for her own good. He climbed back into his warm sheets and fell back into elven dreams.

Arwen quietly opened the door to Elladan's room and sneaked in. "EL- MPH!"

She was cut short as she was hit in the face with a pillow. Before she knew it she found her self being pushed out of the door and heard the click of the door locking. She rolled her eyes and walked off annoyed. Her family should treat her with more respect on her thousandth begetting day.

She looked out a nearby window and saw that it was still very early; she turned to go and thought out of the corner of her eye that she saw a horse gallop through the lawn. She shook it off and went back to bed.

_Some time later..._

Arwen turned in her sleep. Something felt odd... she fully opened her eyes and jumped up in surprise – she was in the middle of the woods! Her mood had now been updated from annoyed to

homicidal. She walked quickly back to the house all of a sudden she stopped she had the weird

feeling someone was watching her, and then, for a minute, through the trees she saw _him._

She squinted: was that Elladan or Elrohir? she wondered. But he vanished almost the minute he had appeared so she went on her way thinking no more of it.

Inside the dining hall Elrond, Elladan, and Elrohir sat eating breakfast when Arwen came

trudging into the hall, glaring at her brothers. Elrond instantly decided that he wanted nothing to do with this and tried to slip out of the hall unnoticed, this failing when his daughter took his arm in a death grip. The elf lord grimaced as his daughter addressed him.

"Ada," she said in a whiny voice, "Ada, do you know what my awful brothers did to me?"

Elrond sighed. "Obviously something do to the leaves and dirt in hair and your apparent desire to have me punish them," he offered.

"I woke up in the middle of the woods, and I had to walk all the way back here! And then one of them was watching me stumble through the woods and wo—"

Elrond now cut her off. "Arwen the twins were here with me eating, I don't doubt the played the prank on you but you couldn't have seen them on your way back to the house."

"Wha... are you sure Ada? I... um, well, I should go get ready… a lot of visitors are coming today..." she walked off to her room feeling slightly scared... she didn't know why.

The rest of the day way a flurry of activity in order to get ready for Arwen's celebration that

night. A young kitchen boy rushed through the hallway, already late; suddenly a young elf with

dark hair and eyes stopped him.

"Let go! I have to get to the– Uh, sorry, Lord Elladan or Elrohir... or… uh… well, what do you need?"

The stranger paused in surprise for a moment and then smiled, this could work well for him. "Where is Lord Elrond's study?" he asked.

The boy gave him a strange look. "I'm sorry, my lord, but... I don't have time to mess around, I have to go—"

But the stranger grabbed his shoulder; he was getting sick of this reaction. "I SAID TELL ME!"

The boy's eyes widened in fear, and he hastily told the older elf the directions, then ran off.

_Later that day..._

Night had now come and everything was underway. Thranduil and Legolas had come from

Mirkwood, Lady Galadriel came as well and unlooked-for Gandalf randomly decided to

show up. The party was going and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

Legolas sat in the corner, highly bored, as no one was willing to listen to his story about how he caught and killed one of the Mirkwood spiders. He sat looking out at the hall, and just then he swore he saw Elladan or Elrohir pass… he got up to follow who ever it was and see what was going on.

He thought he had lost the twin when he saw someone's shadow moving he walked cautiously forward to the door of Lord Elrond's study. Curious, he pushed open the door...

Everyone was enjoying themselves as Elladan and Elrohir came into the room out of breath,

Arwen walked up to them, demanding, "Where have you been?"

They shared a look and smiled. "Working on _something_." they said in unison. She shrugged and walked away.

The night drew on, and Thranduil realized he had not seen his son for a awhile. He started to ask around and search, to no avail. Suddenly the doors to the Hall of Fire burst open, and Legolas staggered through them, covered in blood, with a knife embedded in his chest...

Hahahahaha, to be continued, the Lion does not fear your scorn.

We thank you for reading our first chapter; stay tuned as they say.


	2. What Blood Accuses

We are back, Lion speaking, we enjoy reviews and flames keep me warm so nyah on you. I and Lamb know much Arda was so bug off we are having fun and being slightly AU if you couldn't pick that up. Please enjoy as we weave more for you.

Disclaimer: We own nothing except random OCs

Chapter Two: What blood accuses

Elrond crossed the room in a few long strides, reaching Legolas just in time to catch the Prince as he sagged weakly toward the floor. Gazing into the fair-haired elf's pain-glazed blue eyes, the lord of Imladris spoke in an audibly shaking voice. "Who did this to you?"

Legolas lifted a trembling forefinger, pointing to someone behind Elrond. "I-it was… one of them…"

Elrond turned around slowly, despair scrawled across his face, as the Prince of Mirkwood went absolutely limp in his arms. The only ones standing right behind him were his own sons, both of whom were ashen with fear…

There came a strange noise, something in-between a sob and a strangled scream, from the direction of Thranduil, King of Mirkwood. He stormed across the room in a straight and deadly determined line, headed directly for the fear-frozen sons of Elrond. Their father jerked upright from where he had been crouching to lay Legolas' body gently down, and gave an urgent shout. "NO!"

Thranduil ignored him, still approaching the twins, who backed away from him every bit as frenetically. The elven-king stretched out a hand to Elladan, his fingers clenching and unclenching, as though desperate to close around the elder twin's throat…

Elrond had crossed the room as his kinsman had, and now he grabbed Thranduil by the collar of his robe and spun him roughly round, then gripped him by the forearms. "Wait!"

Thranduil writhed madly against his captor's strong hands. "Let me _go,_ Elrond!"

"Get a hold of yourself!" the dark-haired lord roared into his friend's furious face. "Rash actions won't do a thing for your son!"

The elven-king wrestled one arm free of Elrond's grip, swung his hand back, and slapped the ruler of Imladris full-force across the face. The half-elven lord staggered to one side under the sheer force of the blow. Lifting his own hand to his stinging cheek, he gazed in quiet, faintly bemused fascination at the smear of his own blood upon his fingertips. The room had gone so silent that the sound of a dropping pin would have echoed.

Finally tearing his eyes away from the sight of his own blood, Elrond looked again at the seething Thranduil. "There has to be an explanation for this."

"Oh, there certainly _is,_" Thranduil replied in a venomous whisper, his voice slowly rising in pitch and volume. "My son has been murdered. By _your _sons!"

"No!" Elrohir cried out, tears brimming up in his silver-grey eyes. "We had nothing to do with this!"

"That's what they _all_ say!" Thranduil shouted, spit flying from his mouth as he rounded on the younger of the two twins. "So, you were '_working on something_', eh? Working on MURDER!"

"No!" Elladan leapt immediately to his brother's defense. "That wasn't us!"

"_Thranduil!_" Elrond hurriedly cut across them both, fighting to keep his voice calm and relatively quiet. "Please! We – we have to think about this more thoroughly. S-someone is obviously responsible for this, but we don't know—"

"LEGOLAS SAID SO HIMSELF!" Thranduil howled, tears pouring unheeded down his livid, scarlet face. "THEY DID IT! THEY KILLED HIM!"

No further sensible speech came from Thranduil, for he sank to the floor, crumpling into a wretched, weeping heap, burying his face in his hands as he moaned in despair. Elrond gazed down at him for a full few seconds before turning his suddenly icy grey eyes to his sons.

"Get out of here," he told them.

They hesitated, frightened and uncertain of what consequences would await them. Their father spoke again, much more sharply this time. "_Go!_"

This time the twins bolted like startled rabbits. Elrond stepped aside to let them pass, and gazed after them as they sprinted out of the Hall of Fire. After a few lengthy moments he, too, put his hand over his face and bowed his head.

Rhuicunn smirked in great contentment when he spotted Ihathron hastening down toward the ruins. The elder of the two came swiftly forward to greet the other, laying a hand on his comrade's shoulder and speaking in an enthused whisper. "Well? What news?"

"I… couldn't quite reach our quarry," Ihathron replied, bowing his head a little. "Another elf got between them and I."

"You _idiot!_" cried Rhuicunn. "You were supposed to go straight for the lord!"

"He was in my way," the other elf stated simply. "I had to get rid of him. He would have ruined the plan. Besides," he added, "this could work to our advantage."

"How?" demanded a female voice. A tall, black-haired elven woman with very dark blue eyes came striding angrily forward, her hair and cloak billowing behind her like shadows. "How could this possibly go in our favour? You almost devastated the whole thing!"

"Just _relax,_ Wendy," Ihathron simpered. "I have everything planned— _erkh!_" He gurgled in pain as the woman grabbed him viciously by the neck, lifted him a good few inches off of the ground and snarled into his purpling face.

"_Don't_ – call – me – Wendy," she growled venomously. "My name is Wendûath. Say it? Wen- doo- ath."

"Wen- doo- ath," the unfortunate Ihathron repeated in a laboured voice. He gasped as the woman dropped him brusquely to the ground. Massaging his throat, the young ellon went on with his scheme.

"As I was saying, I have everything planned out. With the death of that elf, the whole of Rivendell will be in chaos! Better still, that elf's blood is on the hands of Elrond's brats. With everyone off-guard, we can sneak inside and snatch our real prey away quite easily now."

Rhuicunn appeared satisfied. "Hmm. It just might go over well. But you won't be going back again, Ihathron. They might distinguish you. Wendûath, Delwthross and Sigildur," he said, nodding to the elleth and a pair of ellyn who had remained quite well-concealed, "as soon as the sun sets, you three will go into the haven and take the ones we need. Do it quickly and carefully, don't let anyone see you, and _do not hurt the captives in **any** way. _We need them all to be alive and unscathed."

Delwthross, a tall, muscular ellon who could have been called "good-looking" in his own shadowy way, gave a silent nod of agreement. Sigildur, a strangely gaunt, large-eyed elf who was minus his right ear, idly toyed with the long black knife that he had been named for as he pulled a mock frown and spoke in a high-pitched, slightly whiny voice.

"You never let me have _any_ fun," he complained. "Can't I play with them just a little?"

"You'll have the chance to play soon enough," Rhuicunn retorted sharply. Then his voice fell to a hiss. "For now, just bring them to me."

"Have you gone completely _blind!_ There can be no other explanation! Your sons—"

"There _is_ an explanation, Thranduil, but until such time as we find out what it is, I refuse to blame anyone for Legolas' murder!"

"You're just saying that to defend your own name! How else do you explain the fact that _Elladan's hunting knife_ was buried up to its hilt in Legolas' chest?"

"He could have left it lying about—" Elrond stammered.

"He _should not_ have left it lying about!" Thranduil cut him off. "Now you're saying that someone _else_ picked the thing up and decided to use it to commit homicide, and place the blame oh so conveniently on your son?"

"That's the first reasonable thing you've said all afternoon," the lord of Imladris said, in a much softer, gentler voice. "We may be on to something here."

Thranduil's mouth opened and closed silently several times in succession, and he glared about at the number of others who were gathered in the Hall of Fire: Celebrian, Galadriel, Celeborn, Arwen, Gandalf, and a few others, including Glorfindel and Erestor, Elrond's chief advisor. After about the fifth useless attempt to speak, Thranduil narrowed his eyes, paused for a moment and then spoke.

"All right," he scowled. "All right, I'll play along. Well, Elrond? What's our next move? Who do we track down?"

"No-one, yet," the half-elf replied calmly. "I thought we might have a talk with my sons and hear their side of the story before we do anything else."

Elrond led the way to Elladan's bedroom, where both twins were being held in wait of a trial that was planned for the next day. Elven guards had been stationed at every possible exit to the chamber (there were quite a few, owing to the haven's design being partial to wide windows without glass panes), to stop the twins escaping, and certain people getting in.

The lord of Imladris nodded curtly to the guards standing at the main door, who stepped smartly to one side to let he, Galadriel, Glorfindel and Thranduil pass. The others waited apprehensively for them in the corridor, every one of them cringing as the bedroom door swung shut and locked with an ominous _click._

To be CONTINUED! The Lion does not fear your scorn. Ha Ha.


	3. Capture of the Wind

1We are back again, CHAPTER THREE. Lion speaking, we thank you for reviews you sent in.

Please keep in mind when you read this I (Lion) do indeed fangirl Thranie (Thranduil) and he will not be mean for much longer as I can't bear writing him that way. How would YOU feel if you just saw your only son die? I thought so. NO judging him. (huggles Thranduil and Elrond plushies)

And by the way, we picked up a Sindarin expert to be our beta so lots of Elvish to come. A warm welcome to Glor, the lover of Glorfindel. He is her's not your's. So nyah.

Celme: Thank you very much for your feedback, we will from now on make that more distinguishable. You see, we do try to put some kind of distinction in between different parts but when we load it onto fanfic it disappears for some reason.

Viresse: Just wait and see, that's what makes cliffies fun.

_Disclaimer: We just own the creepy cult, everything else belongs to Master Tolkien in all his genius. _

Chapter Three: Capture of the Wind

Elladan and Elrohir sat in silent shock, completely lost for words.

"That... tha— it couldn't have just happened... I .. we, Elladan..." Elrohir stammered. Elladan looked at the younger twin sadly, and he opened his mouth to say something, but just then the click of the door sounded through the fearful hush.

Elrohir found himself shaking slightly as he looked upon the four who had just entered. He stood to speak but Elrond held up his hand shaking his head, the younger twin sat down his mouth still open. Both of them were in a state of disbelief. It was Thranduil who broke the eerie silence.

"Whatever you say in the next few moments shall save or damn you..." He looked at them both, his icy gaze piercing their stupor. "_Well?_"

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"_Moon ere silver,_

_Fire ere gold._

_Blend together_

_for craftsmen of old._

_Hammer be drum,_

_Fire be harp. _

_Sing now in chorus, _

_Works of the stars._"

Delwthross ended the verse, and Wendûath and Sigildur opened their eyes. All three had been lost in the song, reminded of the old world they loved and desperately wanted back.

This made them ride all the more ambitiously towards Imladris, the warm night's air whipping against their determined faces. They had made few stops, and they were tired and hungry for it, but so hell bent on their twisted goal they cared not. Their horses raced forward, panting heavily, sheens of sweat glossing their fur. Delwthross felt a shudder go through his body as the moonlit river appeared in their sight.

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Elrohir was still dumbfounded, so Elladan rose and spoke. "We did nothing!"

Thranduil went rigid, and Elrohir grimaced. Even in his shock he knew that was a bad move, screaming at the father who had just lost his son.

"What did you say... you dare... in that… tone… by the Valar! SOMEONE GET ME SOME DORWINION! NOW!"

Elrond sighed. "I really don't think that wise right–" He was cut off when he noticed a glare. "Uh, on second thought…" he turned to a maid, "if you could bring up a bottle of Dorwinion?" he asked, leading her out the door. "And hide the rest," he whispered to her. She nodded and ran off.

The hours of the night slowly ticked away as did the bottles of Dorwinion (which were supposed to have been hidden until it was decided that there would be a trial to determine the twins' fate). On the next morning the trial would be held... and everything would fall apart.

_Next morning..._

Morning dawned slowly on Rivendell, fear mixed in with the morning fog. Elladan nor Elrohir, nor half of Imladris found sleep that night, yet everyone stayed in their rooms pretending... pretending to sleep... pretending nothing was wrong and so no one knew.

"It will be well, Elladan..." Elrohir tried to convince his brother.

"I… I'm sure it will be..." Elladan replied weakly. Though neither really believed what he said, they were both as scared as hell of what they almost knew awaited them.

"Ada... he will defend us brother... he will. We **will **be alright." Elrohir said this with a little more hope in his voice, and his twin smiled and nodded. Just then a clear bell rang out, piercing the solemn morning... it was time. Seconds later there was a knock on the door.

Not many were at the trial, only close family and those necessary. It was in a small room that looked as if it used to be a study, though now it was empty. One wall of the room was open to the outside and then sun shone through as did the sounds of the valley. Elrohir and Elladan walked into the small room, unbound.

Elrohir looked around the small room. Glorfindel was leaned up against a wall and he turned and glanced at them as they entered. He was the only one who acknowledged their presence in the room. Erestor sat at a desk and made a point of closely examining the wood to avoid eye contact with anyone. And in the corner sat Thranduil, his eyes cast down at the floor, his expression unreadable. Finally after a few minutes he looked up.

"Well?" he asked vehemently. "_They _are here... where is Elrond to defend them?"

Everyone in the room stared at him... that was a good question..

_An hour later..._

Glorfindel returned to the almost empty room and shook his head. Shortly after him entered Erestor, who had about the same amount of luck. Thranduil gave an annoyed sigh and the twins grimaced. This was not good.

Slowly the minutes ticked away. The door to the room opened and everyone looked to the door, Celebrian entered and shook her head.

"I could not find him.. I am sorry. I am just worried... he didn't come to bed last night either... he always tells me if he is going somewhere... I… I think something may have happened to him." Tears started to fill her eyes; this was not a good day for her, her sons were in deep trouble and now something ill seemed to have befallen Elrond.

Thranduil's sigh broke the silence. "Let us just get this over with... who now then will speak for Elladan and Elrohir Elrondion?" He scanned the room, meeting everyone's eyes.

"I will." answered Celebrian. "They are my sons as well, even if I can not defend them as well as Elrond."

"You were not even there," Thranduil threw back at her.

"Careful, Thranduil" Glorfindel warned. "You might sound like you care if the twins get a fair trial," he added jokingly.

Thranduil rolled his eyes; this was the last thing he needed, a Balrog slayer who thought he was funny. "Garo lam lin, Glorfindel!" (Hold your tongue, Glorfindel!)

The golden-haired elf shrugged and turned to Celebrian. "Are you sure you want t–"

"Yes," she cut in, "Yes, I am."

Thranduil nodded. "Let this begin."

Elrohir looked at Thranduil "We did not kill him… we would not!" he cried.

Thranduil's demeanor remained icy. "Prove it," he said simply.

"Uh… I... we were not even where he was killed.. Where was he killed?"

Elrohir looked to Elladan, who shrugged in bewilderment.

"Near your Ada's study" Thranduil said coolly.

"YOU can't prove we were there." challenged Elladan.

"YOU CANNOT prove you weren't," Thranduil replied. "And my son is no liar."

"He **does** have a point I'm afraid," sighed Glorfindel

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Delwthross, Wendûath, and Sigildur rode now at even a greater pace than before; now that they had part of what they needed, they rode off with all speed away from Rivendell.

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"No," said Celebrian carefully "They can't... but with that logic you can't damn them any more than save them..."

"Watch me!" Thranduil shot back. "I will not take the chance for the killers of my son to walk free, and even if he wasn't my son, nor prince, think: Do you really want kinslayers walking around freely, unchallenged? _Do you?_"

None could argue against that – kinslaying was a grave sin, and even if it was the sons of Lord Elrond standing accused, it had to be taken seriously and impersonally. Glorfindel looked at them and then to Thranduil, and nodded.

"But... in fairness, as a wrong damning will be just as grave… where, pray tell, were you that night, boys?" Thranduil seemed to have calmed down a bit to give them a chance.

"We were at the forge," replied Elladan quickly. "And if we send someone to ask," Glorfindel said stepping towards the door. "Go right ahead!" Elrohir shot out confidently. Glorfindel nodded and walked out the door.

The minutes ticked away slowly as they awaited Glorfindel's return. Elladan and Elrohir sat on the floor, waiting in silent agony. Elladan shifted slightly: he had a foul feeling for some reason. Elrohir didn't quite have the bad feeling his brother did, and turned to smile at him.

The door opened slowly and Glorfindel entered, his face expressionless. The twins stood up and looked at him with anticipation; Thranduil too looked up and met his eyes.

"Well?" said the Elven king. "What did they say?"

Glorfindel shook his head sadly. "They say the twins were not there as they claimed to be…" He pulled out the knife found in the prince's back. "And they confirmed that this is Elladan's knife, they recall making it for him not long ago."

Celebrian sighed; there was little she could do to help her sons, she had not been there and all of the evidence said they were guilty. She shook her head sadly again and sank into a nearby chair.

"I am so sorry my sons, I can not help you now…" she wept.

Thranduil looked at her and nodded with a trace of a smirk, "I thought so."

He turned back to Elrohir and Elladan. "What say you now? The truth? Or shall you further your deceit?"

Elladan shook his head in denial; they didn't. He didn't. He turned to his brother, who was now expressionless. "Please, you know we did not… could not… please," Elladan pleaded. Elrohir sighed; this was not good.

"Give me proof or tale you were elsewhere," Thranduil demanded.

"We can't," replied Elrohir, in a surprisingly calm voice.

Thranduil turned to Elladan. "_And…_" he walked up to Lord Glorfindel, took the knife from him and presented it to the elder twin, "is this not your knife, Elladan Elrondion?"

Elladan sighed and hung his head "It is."

Glorfindel shook his head. Elladan was beginning to panic now, he looked around the room. He saw Glorfindel in disbelief, Thranduil staring at them relentlessly, and Erestor writing down what was written, so silently he was almost forgotten. Then he turned to his twin, who still stood eerily emotionless.

"Well if you weren't near your father's office, then where in the name of the Valar **were** you?" Thranduil asked again.

"I ..." Elladan couldn't think of what to say.

"We were at the forge," said Elrohir defiantly. He looked up and saw his mother shaking her head at this.

"So that's all you will say then, is it? You will claim nothing else nor give forth the truth?" asked Thranduil carefully. "Is that all you have to say?"

The twins exchanged a glance, and then nodded. "Yes," they said together. "That is all."

Thranduil looked to Glorfindel, who nodded to the Elven guards outside the door. They came in, and one of them bowed his head slightly to the twins, with his hand to the door. "My lords," he said gently. They turned and left escorted back to their room by the guards, until a decision had been made.

Elladan and Elrohir sat on the floor, staring out the window. "What if we never see this sight again, brother?" asked Elrohir, a tear creeping down his cheek.

"I really don't know Elrohir, I really don't. I fear for the worst," whispered Elladan.

So they waited, hours ticking slowly, painfully by. Each minute seemed to last a lifetime, and yet diminish in a second at the same time, and they waited... they awaited the final word on their fate.

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Exhausted horses' hoofs tore at the ground with their reckless speed as Sigildur, Delwthross and Wendûath got closer to home. Now the ruins were in plain sight. Rhuicunn would be pleased of this success, but unhappy at Ihathron's failure, which had cost them precious time. Delwthross grimaced at this, and then the bundle in his arms moved...

Elrond felt a jolting movement as he slowly awoke. He realized he was on a horse, and from the smell of the air and terrain of the ground, not in Imladris anymore. He tried to move his hand but found them bound behind his back; someone was holding the rope that bound his hands. He tried to turn and look, but as he moved, an arm moved up around his throat, holding him still and in place.

A gag was on his mouth, so Elrond was unable to call out or even talk to who seemed to be his captors. He looked warily in front of him, and saw what looked like ruins up ahead… he tried to remember where he had seen them before, but then the gag was pulled roughly from his face, another cloth came up to his mouth and nose, and he knew no more.

Delwthross sighed in relief as the Elf lord fell unconscious again, and he moved his hand back to hold the rope. He gave his horse a hard kick in the side and raced forward even faster; the other two saw him do so, and followed him.

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A bell rang clearly through Imladris, signaling that it was time for dinner. There was a knock on the twins' door, and a guard entered the room. "They have come to a decision, my lords," the guard reported with a bow.

Elrohir sighed, and he and his brother stood up and followed the guard back into the hallway that led toward the study. They entered the study, and as they did their mother stood and left – not a good omen at all.

Thranduil sat in the same chair, looking down at the floor; he didn't even seem to notice their arrival. No one else in the room was making eye contact with them either. Finally Thranduil looked up his face was grim and he stood.

"Elladan and Elrohir Elrondion of Imladris, your fate is decided. You are damned – found guilty of kinslaying, and furthermore, kinslaying the prince of Mirkwood."

Elladan gave out a strangled sob, and Elrohir looked heartbroken, but Thranduil continued, "The usual punishment for such a crime is death." The ellyn both now stood rigid with fear.

"**But**," the elven-king went on, "you are the sons of Lord Elrond, and have done great deeds, and so it is deemed your life shall be spared." They relaxed slightly. "So instead, your punishment stands thus and let all here witness it and know it. Elladan and Elrohir, sons of Elrond Peredhel, you are henceforth banished from Rivendell, and all other Elven realms of Arda."

Elladan and Elrohir both cried out in despair. But Thranduil continued coldly, "If you return, or are found guilty of this sin again, you shall receive death."

TBC...


End file.
